Tag: David Moyes

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DAVID MOYES REVEALS KURT ZOUMA WAS SICK AND UNABLE TO PLAY AGAINST LEICESTER

West Ham boss David Moyes revealed Kurt Zouma felt sick and was unable to play after withdrawing from the starting line-up in the warm-up before the 2-2 draw against Leicester at King Power Stadium.

Craig Dawson salvaged a point in the first minute of time added on after Jarrod Bowen had put the Hammers ahead early on, but Youri Tielemans’ 45th-minute penalty equalised before Ricardo Pereira’s header looked to have clinched Leicester’s first win in five games in all competitions.

Defender Zouma, who was last week shown in a video on social media kicking and slapping his pet cat, was forced out of the line-up after falling ill overnight and substitute Issa Diop started instead.

The French centre-back has been fined two weeks’ wages, around £250,000, while the RSPCA has confiscated his two cats and launched an investigation.

Moyes said: “He was ill before the game, but he was desperate to play and we wanted him to play.

“He was sick during the night – he stayed away from the players and didn’t eat much.

“He didn’t eat with us, and he stayed away from the meeting.

“Once he got out there he didn’t think it was possible. It is a stomach bug – probably from something he has eaten.

“We told Issa Diop to be ready, and he played really well.”

Moyes insists his side can compete for a Champions League place after it looked like they were going to lose until Dawson’s goal, which came off his upper arm.

“It says lots for the players,” he added. “I will squeeze everything out of them and I want us to challenge the top teams.”

West Ham seemed unaffected by the Zouma controversy as they took a 10th-minute lead.

Diop lofted the ball forward and Bowen controlled before firing a left-footed drive across Kasper Schmeichel.

Tielemans’ penalty levelled after Aaron Cresswell handled James Maddison’s corner.

Pereira met Harvey Barnes’ cross with bullet header into the top corner of the net in the 57th minute to complete the turnaround.

But Dawson then got to Bowen’s corner, with the ball looping in off his upper arm.

Leicester manager Brendan Rodgers felt for his players after they conceded a 14th goal from a set-piece this season, while five of the last seven they have let in have come in the last five minutes of matches.

“I really feel for the players because that feels really deflating when we have conceded from a set-piece again,” said Rodgers.

“We’ve had a few of them lately, and it was hard for the players.

“There was anxiety there, but possession is a mantra – you have to take the ball and be brave.”

Rodgers felt his side were back to their best during the second half.

“In the second half we were outstanding and in the first half West Ham were better,” he added.

“The second half was like watching us of old, with the speed of the game and chances. “

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WE WON’T NEGLECT PREMIER LEAGUE FOR EUROPE – DAVID MOYES

West Ham boss David Moyes is loving life in European football but has vowed not to take his eye off the ball in the Premier League as he bids to juggle a packed fixture list beyond Christmas.

The in-form Hammers continued their Europa League adventure with a 2-0 win over Rapid Vienna on Thursday evening, a repeat of the result they achieved at Dinamo Zagreb a fortnight ago.

Last season’s surprise sixth-placed finish has placed greater demands on the London club, leaving Moyes with a tricky balancing act.

But the experienced Scot, who must swiftly switch his attentions back to domestic duties ahead of Sunday’s visit of Brentford, insists he is relishing the challenges posed by the hectic schedule.

“We want European football – I wish it was the Champions League because it would mean we had Wednesday-Saturday (fixtures) – but if we’re getting Thursday-Sunday, I’m taking that all day long,” he said.

“We’re loving being in the European competition. We’ve got a lot of players who have not been in European football before.

“I’d like to be in European football after Christmas time, that’s my goal with this competition at the moment.

“I can’t take my eye off the ball with the Premier League, but I’m doing my best to juggle the squad and give everybody minutes and hope to try and win the games by using as may players as I possibly can.”

West Ham have so far coped impressively with the packed programme, with a narrow top-flight loss to Manchester United their only defeat of the campaign to date.

They sit seventh going into the weekend, two points and as many places above their newly-promoted visitors.

The fixture will see Hammers forward Said Benrahma reunited with the club he left just under a year ago.

Algeria international Benrahma took 31 games to score his first United goal but has already struck four times this campaign, including the clincher in the Rapid Vienna victory, prompting praise from Moyes.

“Since he’s come to us, he’s taken a bit of time (to adapt) but I say this quite often about the players who come up from the Championship and even players we bring in from abroad, coming into the Premier League is not an easy one to step into and hit the ground running,” said the manager.

“Some players do, some don’t.

“I think it’s taken Said a little of time to understand his roles and how he has to play at this level.

“But we’ve been really pleased with him, he’s been a big positive for us since the start of the season.”

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DAVID MOYES SIGNS NEW DEAL AT WESTHAM

West Ham manager David Moyes has been rewarded with a new three-year contract.

The Scot guided the Hammers to Europa League qualification last term courtesy of a sixth-placed finish in the Premier League.

“This is where I want to be and I’m happy,” Moyes told West Ham’s website.

“I’m excited to be given this opportunity to build on what we all have already achieved here. The owners and I are fully aligned with how we want to keep developing and improving the football club.”

Moyes, who initially managed the Hammers between November 2017 and May 2018, returned for a second spell in December 2019 following the departure of Manuel Pellegrini.

The 58-year-old helped the London club avoid relegation in the 2019-2020 campaign before continuing the resurgence by leading them to their highest Premier League points tally of 65 in the season just gone.

“We have made tremendous progress in the past 15 months and that has been a collective effort from everyone at the club,” he said.

“We must keep pushing boundaries for consistent improvement as we all aim to continue the growing of the club.

“I am really excited by the ambition that we have at the club and we are going to work as hard as we possibly can to keep moving forward and hopefully give our supporters many a great memory.”

Moyes is closing in on 100 matches in charge at the London Stadium and 1,000 competitive games as a manager following previous spells with Preston, Everton, Manchester United, Real Sociedad and Sunderland.

Club chairmen David Sullivan and David Gold said in a joint statement: “This is fantastic news and we are delighted that David has committed his long-term future to the club, ensuring great stability going forward.

“His strong work ethic and determination to build success in the right way have proved a perfect fit for West Ham United, and we are all aligned with what needs to be done to keep progressing and improving.

“The experience of the past 12 months has created a fantastic unity throughout the club and we are very excited about what the future holds for our supporters.”

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DAVID MOYES DELIGHTED TO LEAD WESTHAM UNITED TO EUROPA LEAGUE FINISH

David Moyes celebrated a “huge achievement” after West Ham clinched a place in the Europa League with a 3-0 victory over Southampton.

Two goals from Pablo Fornals and a third from Declan Rice made it a club record 19th Premier League win of the season for the Hammers, and a first top-six finish this century.

A maiden appearance in the group stages of the Europa League now beckons for a side tipped to struggle again at the start of the season.

“Get your vaccines, get your passports, we’re going to Europe,” was jubilant Moyes’ message to the 10,000 fans back in attendance at the London Stadium.

Afterwards Moyes said: “It’s a huge achievement from where we came from, To jump this far is absolutely huge.

“I think there’s signs West Ham are beginning to pull together. We walked around the pitch last season having just stayed up and people said that was a success!

“I hope we enjoyed what we felt today, being in a big game that meant something. It’s been a tough year in football but overall it’s been a good year for us.”

West Ham went ahead when Jarrod Bowen raced onto Michail Antonio’s header and shot across goal.

Saints keeper Alex McCarthy could only palm the ball out to the feet of Fornals, who smashed home the rebound.

Two minutes later the hosts were two ahead, Fornals again the man in the right place to turn in a low cross from full-back Vladimir Coufal.

A fitting third arrived five minutes from time when Rice, who has captained West Ham superbly this season, strode forward and fired home.

Moyes’ attention will now turn to building a squad able to manage the Thursday-Sunday slog that comes with the Europa League.

One player he hopes to add permanently is Jesse Lingard following the end of the forward’s successful loan spell from Manchester United.

“I hope Jesse’s here, we’d like to keep him, he’s done an exceptional job for us but there’s no guarantees, he’s not our player,” added Moyes.

“But I hope Jesse realises we’ve been good for him as well, and that he joined a club on the up.”

It was an underwhelming end to a streaky season for Southampton, a 15th defeat from their last 21 matches meaning a 15th-placed finish with an unwanted club record of 69 goals conceded in a single Premier League campaign.

“In the second half of this season we haven’t been good enough and that’s why we ended up where we ended up. The table doesn’t lie,” said manager Ralph Hasenhuttl.

“When you concede the second most goals in the Premier League you know what is missing. That’s what needs to change, either with these players or other players.”

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TOP FOUR FINISH POSSIBLE FOR WESTHAM – DAVID MOYES

West Ham boss David Moyes has said finishing in the top four of the Premier League “is a possibility” for his side this season.

The Hammers, who are currently sixth, have not finished in the top four since 1985-86.

“A top-10 position would be excellent for West Ham considering where we were – but we’re much higher up now, so I’m looking up,” Moyes told Football Focus.

“I don’t see why we can’t be around those [top four] positions.”

West Ham, who are set to face Leeds at London Stadium on Monday, have won 13 league games this season – three more than they managed in the 2019-20 campaign.

“We wanted to get away from the West Ham where you weren’t sure which West Ham was going to turn up – were you going to get a disappointing result against a team you shouldn’t, or win when you probably weren’t expecting to?” said Moyes.

He added: “The players have changed my mentality because now I’m looking up to see how high I can get – I have to praise the players for that.”

The former Everton and Manchester United boss recognises results are in stark contrast to this time last season, but thinks there is more to come from his side.

“I hope with West Ham we can build a really exciting young team – that would be my big hope for us now. This time last year we were talking about do you think you can avoid relegation, can you stay out of the bottom three?

“People are asking different questions now – do you think you can finish top four or qualify for Europe? It shows you how far we’ve come,” said Moyes.

The Scottish manager, who returned to West Ham in 2019 after being let go in 2018 after less than a year in charge, says that things feel different this time around.

“I’m glad to be back. The first time round I really enjoyed myself and I was disappointed when I wasn’t asked to stay on because I thought we’d done a good enough job to remain in the position.

“I admired the owners for coming back for me and realising the job we had done in the first place was a good one,” he said.

Moyes guided West Ham to a 13th-place finish in the 2017-18 season, despite the club being in the relegation zone when he joined in November.

“We’re in a sad world of football management at the moment where changing managers very quickly does happen.

“Managers continually have to prove themselves all of the time. Whatever you’ve got in the bag – experience, cups, medals – I don’t know if that counts for an awful lot,” Moyes added.

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WE CAN GET BETTER FOR A TOP FOUR CHALLENGE – MOYES

David Moyes admitted he would not have believed anyone who told him at the start of the season that West Ham would be above the champions in February.

However, the Hammers boss has warned the teams in and around the top of the Premier League that there is still more to come from his high-flying side.

West Ham swatted away Sheffield United 3-0 despite having their only recognised striker Michail Antonio once again out injured.

Instead loanee Jesse Lingard provided the attacking menace as goals from Declan Rice, Issa Diop and Ryan Fredericks lifted them above Liverpool and briefly into fourth place.

“Obviously I wouldn’t have believed it at the start of the season if someone had said that,” said Moyes, whose side were deep in relegation trouble this time last year.

“But our form after lockdown was good and a couple of signings have worked really well for us, and the players have kicked on.

“We’ve got five games before April and if we make it to there it might start hotting up. But it nearly feels uneasy talking like this.

“The teams around us are top, top teams and we are going to have to play incredibly well to be there. But I think we’ve got another gear or two to what we’ve shown tonight.

“I can’t say how well the players have done and I think we have another level. It’s a very good result, very few teams will get three goals against Sheffield United.”

Rice opened the scoring from the penalty spot – West Ham’s first spot-kick of the season – just before half-time after Lingard was brought down by Chris Basham.

Diop added the second after he was left unmarked to nod in Aaron Cresswell’s corner and substitute Fredericks tucked in the third in stoppage time.

The Blades travelled to London knowing a win would lift them off the foot of the table. Instead they suffered another defeat and lost key defender John Egan to injury.

At this level you can’t make it easy for the opposition and we gift-wrapped two goals,” said manager Chris Wilder.

“The timing of the first one is terrible. I thought we would be competitive, which we were. I thought we were well in the game up until that moment. We had a foothold in the game.

“Then we started the second half well but then conceded from a set-play. The manner of the goals is really poor.”

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DAVID MOYES POSITIVE OF BENRAHMA IMPACT AT WESTHAM.

David Moyes believes Said Benrahma can bring an extra dimension to West Ham.

Algeria winger Benrahma completed a last-minute switch from Brentford on deadline day, understood to be worth up to £30million, despite a hitch with his medical.

The 25-year-old attracted interest from a host of Premier League clubs after scoring 17 goals in Brentford’s run to the Championship play-off final last season.

And Moyes made his move for some extra creativity after shipping out former record signing Felipe Anderson on loan to Porto.

“What I’m looking for is, he scored 17 goals last season, the season before 14 goals and something like 10 assists,” said the Hammers boss.

“So you’re asking me what I want him to bring to the club? I want him to bring these goals and these assists to the club.

“That’s what I see. Now granted, can he step up from the Championship to the Premier League? Well, that’s the bit. But that’s the level we asked the likes of Jarrod Bowen, can he do it?

“Over the years of my career could Leighton Baines do it, could Phil Jagielka do it, could Tim Cahill do it, could Joleon Lescott do it?

“Could any of these boys step up from the Championship and become Premier League players so that would be the challenge for Said?

“But if he can bring his goals and his assists to our team, with what we’ve got at the moment it will be another extra dimension which we’ll bring to the team.

“The best example is Sheffield United who came up from the Championship, probably came up a couple of divisions, and were fantastic last year. None of the players looked out of place in the Premier League.

“So, I think the Championship has got good players, I’m not saying that every player is going to make it, and not all the ones I’ve bought have done it, but I think that ones we brought up have put on a good show and an attempt to.

“I think Said could do that. Again, that’s the challenge for him.”

Benrahma was not signed in time to face Tottenham on Sunday but could make his Hammers debut at home to Manchester City on October 24.

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MANCHESTER UNITED DIDN’T GIVE ME MORE TIME LIKE THEY DID SOLSKJAER – MOYES

West Ham United manager David Moyes have said that his Manchester United counterpart Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is building an exciting team having been given time on the job, something the Scot felt he was not afforded at Old Trafford.

Moyes, who replaced long-term United manager Alex Ferguson in 2013, was dismissed after only 10 months in charge.

“Ole had a difficult start, but the difference between Ole and me is that he’s being given time. He’s bringing players in from the academy, which United have always stood for,” Moyes told a news conference.

“They have got really exciting young players of their own now… It’s a wonderful club and a brilliant place to be, and the biggest club in the world, for me. It’s always a special place to go and I’m looking forward to going back.”

Solskjaer’s United were on an unbeaten run of 19 matches in all competitions before losing to Chelsea in the FA Cup semi-finals on Sunday.

West Ham have won their last two league games, scoring seven goals to climb to 16th on 37 points, with two rounds remaining and Premier League survival in sight.

Moyes said Czech midfielder Tomas Soucek, who joined on loan from Slavia Prague in January, was part of his future plans.

“He’s a West Ham player, simple as that,” Moyes said.

The Hammers forced United to a draw on Wednesday night, making Solskjaer’s men wait till the final game day to earn a champions league spot.